Arts neighbors might partner on parking

The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, which is taking shape in the shell of the former Municipal Auditorium, promises to be an acoustically world-class venue, appeasing lovers of the symphony, opera and all other performing arts.

At least that's what its marketing campaign says.

It also has the potential to be a cultural partner if a kind of symbiotic relationship could be formed between the Tobin and the nearby Southwest School of Art.

The center is scheduled to open September 2014.

They're both going to require parking.

The board for the Tobin Center has been searching for a piece of land on which to build a parking garage.

The arts school, which occupies historic Ursuline Academy at Navarro and Augusta streets, is looking to expand both academically and physically in the coming years. In 2014, for example, it likely will launch its first degree program.

The school is proposing building a large mixed-use project, with a parking garage, on 0.34 acres it owns just northwest of the Tobin.

The new garage would serve the needs of Tobin Center audience members and SSA students.

“The parking would be in the center of the block with other uses such as housing and retail wrapped around the parking,” SSA president Paula Owen said. “The parking itself won't be visible.”

The block-long property is bounded by Augusta, Richmond, North St. Mary's and Navarro, and is a block northwest of the Tobin grounds.